3 takeaways from Knights' loss: New forward's debut spoiled

The Golden Knights let another opportunity get away.

The Knights grabbed a lead twice, failed to maintain it both times and lost 4-3 to the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Monday.

The Knights led 2-0 and 3-2 before failing to score in the third period. They suffered their second straight loss in regulation after Friday’s 7-4 defeat to the Arizona Coyotes.

Center Jack Eichel had two goals and an assist for the Knights (42-27-8). Defenseman Noah Hanifin scored his second goal with the team since coming over from Calgary before the trade deadline. Goaltender Logan Thompson made 26 saves in the loss.

The Knights’ magic number to clinch a sixth postseason berth in seven years remains at three points. They are in the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference and trail the Los Angeles Kings by one point for third place in the Pacific Division.

It looked early on like the Knights had a chance to climb in the standings.

Eichel was close to a hat trick in less than nine minutes.

He scored twice in the first 8:06 to give the Knights a 2-0 lead. The Canucks got even thanks to penalties. Vancouver scored two power-play goals in a 2:36 span to tie the game with 5:34 left in the first period.

Hanifin restored the Knights lead 9:33 into the second period, but the Canucks came up with another response. Right wing Brock Boeser scored his 40th goal of the season to even things up with 6:50 left in the second. Right wing Conor Garland scored his second goal of the game 5:21 later to give Vancouver its first lead.

The Knights couldn’t answer back in the third thanks to the Canucks’ strong defense. Vancouver allowed just 23 shots on goal in the game and finished with 18 blocks.

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